Image Month: Saga #2

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With a lightspeed pace and stellar art, Saga’s sophomore issue continues to shock, mystify, and amaze.

Believe it or not, once you have a few good books under your belt, it doesn’t necessarily follow that everything you touch will turn to comics gold. When news of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ epic sci-fi ongoing first hit the Web, the initial hype was overwhelming. This was the writer responsible for critically-acclaimed hits Y – The Last Man and Ex Machina teaming up with one of the hottest artistic talents to hit the comics scene in years, after all. Still, there were a few cynical souls who preferred to withhold judgment until a few more issues were in the bag.

The critics can wait all they want. I’m here to tell you Saga is here to stay. Sure we’re only two issues in but it doesn’t take a genius to recognize brilliance when one sees it.

Featuring a breakneck pace and lush, gorgeous artwork, Saga #2 hits the ground running as Marko and Alana desperately navigate the dark and dangerous Rocketship Forest, toting poor, newborn Hazel along, while staying one step ahead of their unknown pursuers. A mysterious, enchanted place, the Forest is home to all manners of terrors, not the least of which are the notorious Horrors, creatures so fearsome and deadly, even naked bounty-hunting female arachnids are loath to face them. At the end of the day though, it’s only Alana’s steadfast resolve and willingness to sacrifice all, that wins her new family a brief respite from certain death.

Despite a bewildering fusion of fantasy and sci-fi and an epic scope that reaches across an entire galaxy, Saga succeeds in remaining stolidly focused on the protagonists Marko and Alana. It is their easy interplay, their razor-sharp dialogue and their dedication to young Hazel that drives the series. Built around intense, poignant character moments, Vaughan’s world seethes and boils around its protagonists, as they struggle to free themselves from its grip.